In recent years, advances in technology, as well as ever-evolving tastes in style, have led to substantial changes in the design of automobiles. One of the changes involves the complexity of the electrical systems within automobiles, particularly alternative fuel vehicles, such as hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles. Such alternative fuel vehicles typically use one or more electric motors, perhaps in combination with another actuator, to drive the wheels. Additionally, such automobiles may also include other motors, as well as other high voltage components, to operate the other various systems within the automobile, such as the air conditioner.
Due to the fact that alternative fuel automobiles typically include only direct current (DC) power supplies, direct current-to-alternating current (DC/AC) inverters (or power inverters) are provided to convert the DC power to alternating current (AC) power, which is generally required by the motors. Such vehicles, particularly fuel cell vehicles, also often use two separate voltage sources, such as a battery and a fuel cell, to power the electric motors that drive the wheels. Thus, power converters, such as direct current-to-direct current (DC/DC) converters, are typically also provided to manage and transfer the power from the two voltage sources.
As the power demands on the electrical systems in alternative fuel vehicles continue to increase, there is an ever increasing need to maximize the efficiency and reliability of such systems. Additionally, there is a constant desire to reduce the cost and space required by the components within the electrical systems in order to minimize the overall cost and weight of the vehicles. One particular source of increased cost is the direct bonded copper substrates conventionally required of many power inverters.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a power electronics device, particularly an inverter, with attributes of low cost, high current, and compact design. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.